In delivering constant current electrical stimulation pulses by an implantable pulse generator to electrodes implanted near a stimulation site, capacitive connections of the electrodes to a pulse generator circuit output driver can accumulate charge if balanced pulses are not employed, resulting in skewing the pulses over time. Simply using balanced pulses, however, dissipates twice the power.
Simple passive discharge, on the other hand, requires time to dissipate accumulated charge, potentially limiting the frequency at which pulses can be delivered. In addition, significant charge may remain accumulated between pulses, skewing the pulses over time.